What those charges were the psalmist does not specify but it is not uncommon for a good man to be falsely accused, and we are certain that such things occurred in the life of David. Things that I knew not - Of which I had no knowledge which never came into my mind. Hence, it is synonymous with our expression of laying to the charge of anyone or of accusing anyone. The usage appears to have been derived from courts, where the forms of trial may have been in the way of question and answer - the mode of accusation having been in the form of "asking" how a thing was, or whether it was so and the defense being regarded as an "answer" to such an inquiry. They laid to my charge - Margin, as in Hebrew: "they asked me." The word "asked" here seems to be used in the sense of "demand " that is, they demanded an "answer" to what was said. Their conduct was injurious to me as an act of "violence" would be. That is, they were persons who, in what they said of me, were guilty of injustice and wrong. They will reward me, &c., which seems to intimate that the prophet was speaking of what was then future, and in the person of him against whom false witnesses did arise, to whose charge they laid things he knew not, and whom they rewarded evil for good “who, because our souls were sick, clothed himself with the sackcloth of our flesh mourning at the very thought that his prayers, in any measure, should return into his own bosom.” See Fenwick.īarnes' Notes on the BibleFalse witnesses did rise up - Margin, "witnesses of wrong." The Hebrew is, "witnesses of "violence,"" חמס châmâs. But the Hebrew verbs, יקומו, ישׁאלו, ישׁלמו, jeshallemu, jishalu, jekumu, are all in the future tense, and the clauses are more properly rendered, False witnesses will rise up, &c. This interpretation of the passage, the reader will observe, is given according to the present translation. To the spoiling of my soul - That is, to the stripping of my person of all my comforts and hopes, and of my life itself. They rewarded me evil for good - For the good offices which I performed to divers of them when I had favour and power in Saul’s court and camp. They laid to my charge things I knew not - They accused me to Saul of treacherous designs against his crown and life, and of other crimes of which I was wholly innocent and ignorant. I need to be more careful with my speech for my words can have lasting results.Benson Commentary Psalm 35:11-12. And in this communication is often sometimes a tendency to slander the person as well - so when I share I go beyond the comment and even have a tendency to make the situation sound worse that it was. I do this because I think I want others to sympathize with me or agree with me. When I am feeling wronged by a person, often the first thing that I will do is want to tell someone else. Obviously, if the employee has been offended directly then I must take this seriously, but when an employee hears through another employee something about oneself, it reminds me that these are rumors and potentially gossip. At times as a manager my job is to listen to employees and one area is listening to how an employee believes or thinks or hears other employees are talking about him or her. In my life, I've noticed this being rather difficult in the workplace. But it is fair to say that in this commandment is the expectation that our speech needs to be truthful about others. In a simple way, telling a lie can be bearing false witness against your neighbor though I do not think these are all lies.
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